Life
by IaMcHrIsSi
Summary: The story of Ben and Jack.
1. Meeting

**AN: First, thank all you guyes who have reviewed my story Asking. You gave me the courage to write this. **

**So this is going to be the story of Ben and Jack. It fully ignores the events of Scorpia Rises and is written like drabbels.**

The day Ben met Jack Starbright started completely normal. Nothing indicated that this day would change his life. He got up at 6 am, went to his morning workout and then made his way to his office at Royal and General. There was no mission in sight for him, just a bit paperwork.

At 1 pm he went for his break. He went to the Fino, a nice little cafe that was led by a italian family. It was his favourite, they made great coffee and it was, even though it was really beautiful and in walking distance to every important sights, not found by tourists yet.

He ordered his everyday coffee (black, no sugar) and pulled out his book. Most agents read newspaper in there break, but Ben never did. He always thought that he had enough to do with politics at work, so he definitifly would not deal with it in his break.

When the door opened, his eyes flew there out of instinct. He quickly checked the new costumer. It was a young woman, his age, with short red hair and a friendly face. No danger. He started reading his book again, but somehow his eyes would not stop wandering towards the woman.

She went towards the waitress, that seemed to know her.

„A coffee without everything is waiting for you. You're late today, aren't you?"

The woman, Jack, answered: „I got caught up in traffic. Do you know what's going on? There are about ten thousand tourists in the city." Ben noticed her american accent. Washington, probably, but strongly favoured by London english.

„It's Olympia, Jack. Don't tell me you missed that!"

„Of course I didn't. But so many people?"

„It's only for two weeks. Then there all gone."

Jack laughed and went to Ben's desk, her coffee in her hands.

„Hey. I have never seen you here. Do you come here often?"

Ben smiled. He liked this Jack.

„I come here every day. Although I never noticed you. I think you come here daily, too?"

„Yes. Probably we always missed each other."

„Don't you want to sit down?"

„Yeah, why not." Jack smiled. Ben noticed she was really beautiful.

„I see your drinking your coffee black." She said.

„Yep, the only real way to drink coffee. By the way, I'm Ben."

„Jack."

„You sound american"

„I am. But I live here. You sound like you're coming from Liverpool."

So there banter went on. When he got back to work, half an hour late, he had her number in his pocket and a smile on his face.

**AN: Yeah, I had to put it while Olympia. Tell me what you think!**


	2. Calling

The first time Ben actually called Jack was after a mission went completely south. Three good agents had died trying to stop terrorists from stealing a nuclear bomb, and even though in the end they had suceeded, that did not bring the three agents back.

It was six month after they met. It seemed a long time, but truth was that he had not need to call her till then. The day after they first met, Ben made his break half an hour earlier than normal, and Jack had already waited for him in the Fino. Since then, they had their break together in the cafe everyday. They would sit together, talk about this and that, and enjoying there time together. Ben was suprised how soon this meetings became the best time of his day. He only missed them twice: once, when he had to go to a mission in Sudan (He had told her he worked for a bank, but not the name of the bank. Some instinct had stopped him from doing that.), the other time was now. She believed him to be on a business meeting in LA.

Now, it was 10 pm, he just came home after debriefing, and he felt like shit. The three agents had been good collegues, not really friends, but good people. He did not want to think about work anymore, but he figuered he needed someone to talk to now. He mentally went through anybody he knew and the only one he really trusted and that was not related to work somehow appeared to be Jack. He thought about it. He really missed her, which was strange, because he always tried to let nobody grow to his heart that much. Anyway, he wanted to talk to her. Her number was hidden in his favourite book and while he picked it up, he thought of something he could tell her what happened. A carcrash, he decided. He would tell her one of his friends had died in a carcrash. That would explain to her how he acted, and why he wanted her company.

He called her. She picked up after the third beep.

„Jack"

„Hey, Jack, it's me"

„Ben! You're home! How are you?" She sounded a bit worried. She knew him well enough to know something was up.

„Actually, not good. A friend of mine died in a carcrash today, and I was wondering..."

„I come. Tell me where you live, and I'll be there."

Ben told her and then smiled. He had really missed her.

At the Riders house, Jack rushed towards the car.

„Where are you going?" Alex asked from his place in front of the TV.

„A good friend called. Ben, I told you about him. A friend of him just died, and he needs company."

Alex smiled towards her, but made a mental note to check the guy out. Jack cared for this Ben, and after the last guys who were simply disappointing, he wanted to protect her.

**AN: So, we have Alex in for the first time. The next chapter will pick up exactly were this one stopped. What do you think?**


	3. Telling

No ten minutes after Jack hung up Ben could hear the doorbell. He quickly went through his routine security programm, looking at the little display that was connected with the hidden camera right above the door, then making sure no weapons could be seen. He trusted Jack, but he did this so often, it became part of himself.

She was wet from the rain, and her hair was a bit messed up. She really hurried to come here. She still looked beautiful. He opened the door.

Before he could say anything, she hugged him. He was suprised at first, but then hugged her too. It felt good. Somehow he had the feeling this was not the first time she comforted somebody about the death of a friend.

„Hey" She said quietly.

„Hey" He responded.

He brought her inside and quickly showed her around.

„I make you some tea. Secret family recipe, that helps with everything."

He smiled at her words. It had been so long till anyone had made him tea.

Jack went into the kitchen. Like most women she found everything she needed in an instant. Then she pulled out her „secret family recipe". It was just a bit orange, a bit pepper and a little bit cinnamon in a vanillia tea. But saying it was a secret family recipe made everybody love it.

While making the tea, a piece of paper flew down to the floor. Jack picked it up, she first did not read it, she did not want to intrude his privacy, but then she saw the symbol on the left upper corner. She recognized it instantly. _Royal and General_. Jack felt like there was no air in the room anymore. Quickly, she overread the letter. _To agent Ben Daniels … mission accomplished … sorry for the loss of three agents … permission to take a few days of … sincerely, Blunt._

Jack sat down on the floor. She could not believe it. Blunt. She never thought she would hear or read of the man again. The man that destroyed Alex childhood. This … she had no words for the guy. After a few seconds of complete shock, another truth hit her. The letter was addressed to an agent Ben Daniels. _Ben was MI6._ He had lied to her all the time.

She wanted to run out of this house, she wanted to scream at him. But she wouldn't have made it through the time Alex was on missions when she would have done things like that. So, she tried to calm down and think about it with a clear head. Of course Ben would not tell somebody he barely knew about his real job. If Blunt himself signed the letter, it meant Ben was not just any agent. He had to be a really good agent. And she had not been any better. Ben did not even knew about Alex. She simply never mentioned him. She read the letter again. Three lost agents. Translation: Three dead agents. Ben must be feeling like shit, she thought. She got up, grabbed the tea and walked towards his livingroom. Maybe, he would tell her the truth. If not, she would not mention she knew.

Meanwhile, Ben thought about what to do. Jack had really grown to him, and the fact that she rushed towards him at 10 pm through the rain told him that she cared for him. It would not be fair to lie to her. On the other hand, he barely knew her. He knew she came from the States, that she lived somewhere in London and that she liked her coffee black and without everything. He knew many such things, like the fact that she loved the London eye and hated tourists, and it suprised him how much this knowledge meant to him. No, he decided, she was no danger. If she would have been, she could have poisened him all the time they had their break together in the Fino, she could have invited him to her home and killed him there, she could have hired a sniper to kill him while he was sipping his coffee with her. No, she definitifly was a friend. A friend that came in the night because he needed company. She deserved to know.

That moment she came in, a big cup of tea in her hands. She smiled when she gave it to him and sat down on the couch next to him. The tea was great. He had to ask her for the recipe.

Now, he decided. He had to tell her now, before the lies grew to big. It was possible that she would run, but he doubted that. At least he hoped she would stay.

He took a deep breath and said:

„Jack, I have to tell you something. I … I don't work for a bank. The friend of mine that died, it … it was no car accident. I work for the government. MI6, to be exact. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I … I understand if you go no. But I thought … I thought you deserve to know."

She was silent for a moment. Ben feared she would stand up and go. The moment grew longer and longer.

But she did not go. She looked him in the eyes and said:

„I will not go because of that. I understand you did not tell me, but please, no lies anymore. I really like you, and I think I should tell you something, too. I … I'm not working for the government or something, no. It's Alex. Alex is 15 year old orphan I take care of. His parents are dead, his uncle died a year ago, and I was the housekeeper then. So now, he has nobody anymore. I became his guardian. He is like a little brother to me, and well … I simply never told you about him. So, if you can forgive me not telling you about him, I can forgive you not telling me about your job."

She said it with a quiet, but confident voice. Ben smiled. She forgave him. And this Alex, well, that was nothing he could not deal with.

„You want to talk about what really happend?" She asked him.

And then, he told her everything. About the bomb, about the terrorists, about the three agents.

Jack slept on his couch this night.

**AN: So, he finally told her. What do you think? Is her reaction unrealistic? To fluffy? Please review!**


	4. Meeting 2nd

The first time Ben visited Jack at home, she was not home.

He had came there because after she had crashed on his couch, she had forgotten her earrings. She had gone in the morning, after making sure he was okay. And when he came back home from a day of writing reports, he had seen the earrings on the desk.

So now, he was standing in front of her house, the earrings in his hands, and he was nervous. Really nervous. He did not know why he was nervous. He had not been when he had called her yesterday, so why now?

He took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell.

After a few minutes, the door was opened. But there it was not the familiar redhead he expected. This person was familiar too, but from a completely different background.

In front of him stood Alex Rider.

Ben was at a loss of words. A big brother, okay, he would have understood that. A little brother, a sister, a father or a mother, even a boyfriend, okay. But why on earth was his best friend Jack living with Alex Rider?!

Alex was equally suprised. The last time he had seen Ben, they had been on Dragon Nine and Ben had been shot multiple times. He knew Ben was okay, Mrs. Jones had told him, but why was he here? On his doorstep?

Ben was the first to regain his voice. „Ah, hello Alex. How are you?"

„Good. What about you?"

God, this conversation was akward. Ben decided to end it.

„I'm fine, either. Look, I think I got the wrong address. Could you tell me where Jack Starbright lives? She forgot her earrings."

Alex quickly overthought the situation. And then it made sense. Jack had been telling him about this friend of hers, Ben. He had even planned to check the guy out and scare him away if necessary. But he never thought the guy could be his Ben.

„No, you don't have the wrong address." Alex said, with a totally cold voice that kind of scared Ben.

„So?" He asked.

„You can give the earrings to me. I will give them to her."

That was the moment Ben got it as well. Jack had told him about Alex!

He decided to do something crazy.

„Hey, when we meet now, what about a going climbing? I don't have that many friends, and you once said you enjoy climbing."

Alex thought about the offer. Ben was a good guy, he trusted him. He would not have to act like he was a scared teenager around him, and if Jack was thinking of him as a friend, she could not be angry at Alex for taking the offer. And Tom was a sucker at climbing.

„Why not? Jack won't come back till 9pm, so you really should give the earrings to me. I think you know the phonenumber, so just call when you have time."

Ben said his goodbye, and then went.

On his way home, he smiled about how small this world was.

**AN: First sorry for the long time to update, I was busy. Second, yes, no Jack in this chapter. I figured that Ben and Alex should discuss this matter alone. Tell me what you think!**


	5. Visiting

The second time Ben visits Jack is the first time she is actually home. It's not planned, he just ends up there after walking through the city for hours without a plan.

It had been another mission. Some really young agent, straight from college, had been captured. They had tortured him to get information. It had been Ben's job to bring him home.

He had not been there in time. The only thing Ben could bring back was a body, the mind of the agent had been long gone. He would go into a mental institution, probably stay there for the rest of his life. Ben did not want to know what Mrs. Jones was telling the family of that agent.

After coming back, physically unharmed, but wounded on the inside, he had walked. He had wanted to walk home, but he somehow ended up on Jack's doorstep.

When she opened the door, she immediately saw that something bad had happened. She ordered him to sit down, made him a her perfect tea and just sat down beside him.

It took no ten minutes before he told her everything. Really everything. Even the highly classified stuff. He did not care.

Jack listened. She never interrupted him, she just listened. And Ben felt better. It was a good feeling not to be alone anymore.

Later, when he was able to think straight again, she made dinner. Alex came from his room, not suprised to see Ben there. Ben suspected that he had heard everything.

It became a nice evening. They talked, laughed and later watched a movie together. Ben crashed on the couch for the night.

It felt like they were a family.


	6. Cooking

The first time Ben and Jack cook together is half a year after he met Alex on her doorstep.

They had a few akward moments at first, because how often do you meet your teenage partner again when you want to spent time with your best friend?

But it worked out pretty good. Ben somehow started to see Alex as the little brother he never had, and often they were going out as a trio. They went climbing or swimming ot they just sat together and watched movies. Ben was suprised how much time he spend with this two people.

There were a few things Ben knew about his friends. One of these things was that Jack did not like cooking. She was able to cook, no question, but she simply hated it.

So when it was Alex's 15th. birthday, Ben decided there should be something extraordinary. Two hours before Alex would be back from school, Ben stood on the doorstep, two bags with food in each hand.

When Jack opened the door, she first thought he was kidding her, but after a bit persuasion (okay, it took him about 15 minutes) they headed towards the kitchen.

The recipe Ben brought was from his mother. She had always made this special potato soup for his birthdays.

He told Jack what to do and soon they were surronded by fresh vegetables. Jack cut her carrots very fast, and Ben was not able to resist and stole a piece.

„Hey! You can't just steal my carrots!" She shouted smiling.

And then she grabbed one of the potatoes and threw it at Ben. There was no way Ben could let her get away with it, so he threw the potatoe back on her.

Soon they were involved in a fullfleged foodbattle.

None of them kept an eye on the clock, so they were really suprised when suddenly Alex stood in the door. In fact, they did not see him, and only got it when Jack accidently hit him with a garlic.

At first he looked at them confused, but then he joined their battle.

When all vegetables were lying everywhere where they should not be, they started cooking.

Suprisingly, the potatoe soup tasted excellent.

So, on Ben's birthday, it was Jack who stood on his doorstep with fresh vegetables.


	7. Camping

When Jack, Alex and Ben go camping, it is always fun.

They have two small tents, one for Alex and Ben, one for Jack. That is kind of old-school, but hey: Ben and Alex are gentleman. Most of the time.

It was summer, and the three of them had decided to go to Cornwall. They had settle on a small campsite, near a really adorable little fishing village and were at the beach right now.

„Hey, come on Jack, the sea is great!" Ben said because Jack was still lying on the beach, reading her book.

„I'm perfectly happy where I am, no worries!" She replied.

„You only fear the water! Maybe she can't swim!" Alex joked, knowing very well that Jack can swim.

„Oooh, wait till I get you!" She shouted and then she ran towards the two male.

Soon, they were in a full waterbattle.

* * *

„Look at this! It looks like a postcard!" Jack exclaimed.

They were in the village, walking through the streets and Jack simply loved it.

For Ben and Alex it was rather boring.

„And this! This shop looks so beautiful!"

„Hey, I see a fish-and-chips-shop. Anyone hungry?" Ben asked.

That made Alex listen and even Jack seemed pleased.

After a quick snack they asked a local to make a photo of all three.

That photo is now hanging in Alex and Jacks livingroom, and Ben has it too, hidden in his favourite book.

* * *

At night they went back to the beach. They lay down on a big blanket, listened to the steady noise of the waves and stared into the sky. From time to time, somebody would point at the stars and tell the others the names or which picture he or she saw.

Just like a normal family.

**AN: So sorry for the delayed update! I hope you liked it!**


	8. Thinking

**AN: I'm so so sorry about not updating for so long! I just had no time... but that's not really an excuse. I hope you're not too angry!**

* * *

It happened on a long mission in Russia.

Ben was lying on a hard bed in an ugly hotel just outside of Stalingrad. It was freezing cold and way to quiet. He hated the silence here. Silence meant danger.

He was here for nearly a month now and he just wanted out.

He tried to think of something positive.

Jack's image appeared before his inner eye. Her charming smile, her sparkling eyes... he loved her eyes. They were like dark sees, full of live and full of mystery.

He thought back to their vacation in Cornwell's. Back to Jack's birthday. To Alex birthday. His birthday. All the times he, Jack and Alex had behaved like a family.

He didn't realize he smiled when he drifted of into a light sleep.

* * *

It was nothing unusual, really. Thinking of Jack. He always thought of home when he felt bad on missions. And for quite a while now, Jack and Alex belonged to his image of home. They were family. Simple and clear.

* * *

But when the mission went hell and Ben found himself in the crossfire, protected only by a small brigg-wall, it was her smile that made him hope.

He was surrounded by at least six armed men, running low on ammo and no back-up was in sight. In short: It was one of those moments when you overthink your life, rethink every decision you made and realize things you never thought of before. In this moments it was suddenly crystal-clear to Ben: He loved Jack Starbright. Not as a friend, not as a sister, no, he loved her with all her heart, like lovers do.

Now that he knew it seemed incredible to him that he hadn't noticed before. She was his best friend for what, a year now? And he never noticed just how much he loved her, not till now.

Just as the back-up-team finally arrived, a bullet hit him in the gut. Before he passed out, his last thought was: I have to see her again. She has to know.

* * *

When Ben regained consciousness, he lay in a bed. He sensed no immediate threat, so he decided to leave his eyes closed for a moment and take in his surroundings with his other senses.

The bed was comfortable, definitively a good hospital. It was warm and he faintly heard voices. They spoke English, so he probably was somewhere in England.

He felt another presence in the room and opened his eyes.

In a chair next to his bed sat a sleeping Jack. Ben smiled. She was here! After a long mission she was always the only one he wanted to see, but till now he always made it to her doorstep when he came back. He shortly wondered who called her, probably Smithers. Mrs. Jones didn't seem to him as the type of woman who'd do something like that.

He reluctantly looked away from her, found the clock. 2am. That explained why it was so dark in here. And why it was so quiet. But with Jack sitting next to him, the silence didn't bother Ben so much.

He tried to sit up and groaned. It obviously hadn't only been a wound in the gut. His left shoulder hurt really bed. The noise woke Jack.

„Hey" she whispered.

Ben smiled. „Hey."

„How are you?"

„Not bad."

She shot him a look.

„I've been worse."

„That hits it better, I think. What the hell happened? You said it would be an easy mission, and now look at you! You've got a grand total of five bullet wounds, not to mention the blood loss! What the hell did you think?!"

Against his will Ben smiled. It was so good to know she cared.

„Like I said, I've been worse. Did the doctor say when I can go home?"

„You were unconscious for two days, are now awake for 5 minutes and already want to go home?"

„I don't like hospitals. Will you help me?"

„Oh, you're unbelievable!"

She sighed exasperated and Ben once again had to smile. He really loved her. But he would take it slow. There was no way he'd risk their friendship.

* * *

**AN: Tell me what you think!**


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